Second Review

I left from NC on my way to MD Sunday morning. As I was leaving, Eric was picking up a trailer to fill with his stuff to move to CO, so leaving basically sucked.  The drive was without incident and full of cry-singing.

In the evening I had to hook up to my machine pretty early in order to disconnect early enough to get to my appointment on time in the morning. I found the UMD transplant review process to be very different from the one at Duke. We (my mom and I) stayed in one waiting room most of the time, and we were called back by various professionals who gave us a talk, asked a few questions, and sent us back into the waiting room.  Duke's information packet was specific about bringing a caregiver, and it had a map of where to park and how to get there.  I only knew where to go at UMD because I asked the lady over the phone (who was super helpful), and my mom happens to work for the hospital. 

There was a lot of waiting, and it was really cold.  I didn't have to re-do the chest x-ray or the EKG, but they did draw some blood (though not nearly as much).  They did not get all the labs from Duke while I was there, but I gave them my transplant coordinator's contact info, so they could get it all from her. 

The people I met with said the same stuff the Duke people did, except that I also met with a cardiologist who wants me to gain 3 pounds before the surgery.  I also met with a dietitian (which I did not at Duke) who promised that if my surgery is scheduled ahead of time I can call her a few days before and she will ensure that I have tasty food when I get out of surgery.  That's pretty cool.

UMD also said that I can get the surgery there, and after a month or so, when I am healing well, they can transfer my case to Duke so I can finish my  follow-up appointments here.  The surgeon seemed ready to stick a kidney in me right there!  He said he thought we could get it done next month!

That sounds great, but complicated with school and such, so I think we are going to shoot for November... Assuming donor stuff works out.

Donor stuff: UMD gave me a few huge packets for potential donors to fill out then send back to them for review. The packets, and more info can be found here: http://umm.edu/programs/transplant/services/kidney/living-donor/evaluation

My parents are still intent upon donating a kidney to me, but the surgeon stressed the benefit of receiving a kidney from someone closer to my own age (the kidney would be more likely to last longer).  So for those who expressed interest in being tested, follow the link above, complete the packet, and fax or mail it to the UMD transplant center for review. 

Also- I need to get started on raising money if I intend to do this transplant soon as the financial coordinator suggests I have $5,000 at the very least. 

So, ,that's the gist of it. Finally getting somewhere with this transplant mess, but it still feels so far away. I am still not ready to believe that things are actually going to move forward in November, but I hope they do!